Super Mario RPG: How To Time Attacks & Blocks - All Special Abilities

If you've ever played a Mario RPG before, you know that you can increase the potency of any attack and reduce damage by timing your button presses just right.

Super Mario RPG is where this trend started. Square mixed Mario's fundamentals like hopping on enemies and kicking Koopa shells with turn-based RPG mechanics to create an interactive battle system for everyone to enjoy. But how do you get the timing right? And can you block every move?

In this guide, we'll be telling you how to perfectly time your attack and block button presses to deal the most amount of damage.

Super Mario RPG: How To Time Attacks & Blocks

What is a timed hit?

A timed hit is when you press the attack button at just the right time. Getting the perfect timing will increase the damage your character will do. In the remake, a perfectly timed button press mean your attack will hit every enemy on the field,

The same goes for blocking — if you press the block button at the right time, you'll reduce the damage your character will take.

Special attacks also have their own "timed hit", but these vary between attacks. We'll be covering those later on in this guide.

How do you pull off a timed hit?

For attacks, press the attack button right before your attack connects with the enemy.

The same logic is applied to a block — press the block button just before the enemy's attack connects with your character. You'll need to pay attention to the enemy's attack as every enemy has a different attack animation

Are timed hits needed to beat the game?

No, but it'll make things much easier.

Increasing the damage you put out will make battles go quicker while blocking attacks means your characters will survive for much longer.

In the Switch remake, you'll also do damage to every single enemy with a perfect timed-hit, or if on the defense, there's a chance you can completely nullify damage with a perfectly-timed block.

Can you block every single attack with a timed hit?

Nope, you can't. Only physical attacks can be blocked in Super Mario RPG, and even then, not every single one of these will be blockable.

In the Switch remake, it looks like the game will tell you when you can't block an attack — such as a magic spell. We'll go into more detail with this once we've spent time with the remake when it launches.

All Special Attack timed hits

As mentioned above, every single special attack in Super Mario RPG has its own timing to help increase the damage you can deal, or the number of hits a spell or attack can cause.

In the Switch version, it looks like the game will give you an Exclamation Mark to let you know when to time your button presses.

We've still broken these attacks by character and skill until we can confirm that this is the case. For now, we've listed each attack under its name in the Super NES version of the game, but these could well change when the remake launches.

Mario

• Jump - Press the Jump button just as Mario lands on the enemy.
• Fire Orb - Tap the Attack button repeatedly to charge up the attack
  
• Super Jump - Same as Jump, just press Jump as soon as Mario lands on the enemy. You can jump on a single enemy multiple times.
• Super Flame - A stronger version of Fire Orb, charge up the attack by pressing the Attack button repeatedly
• Ultra Jump - Jump that hits multiple enemies. Time this by pressing Jump as Mario lands on an enemy.
• Ultra Flame - An AOE version of Fire Orb. Charge up by hammering the Attack button.

Mallow

• Thunderbolt - Press the Attack button just as the storm clouds begin to disappear and the thunder fades.
• HP Rain - Press the Action button when the cloud disappears to boost the amount of health restored.
• Thought Peek / Psychopath - When the two spotlights meet on the enemy, press the Action button to reveal an enemy's hidden thoughts.
• Shocker - Listen for the first sound and then press the Action button right after that.
  
• Snowy - Rotate the analogue stick/d-pad during this attack to increase the duration of the snowstorm,
  
• Star Rain - As the Super Star flattens the enemy, press the Attack buttton. You can do this multiple times in a row.
  

Geno

• Geno Beam - Hold down the Attack button to charge the beam, then let go when you have five stars (three stars on SNES).
• Geno Boost - Press the Attack button just as the arrows start to fade away to add Defense Up to the boost
  
• Geno Whirl - Press the Attack button after the disc leaves the screen to deal 9999 damage. This does not work on bosses. It's also the hardest attack in the game to time correctly.
• Geno Blast - A more powerful version of Geno Beam, charge the shot with the Attack butto until you see five stars (three stars on SNES).
• Geno Flash - The most powerful version of Geno Beam, once again, charge the shot with the Attack button until you see five stars (three stars on SNES).

Bowser

• Terrorize - When the Boo appears, rotate the analogue stick/d-pad as instructed.
• Poison Gas - As the cloud appears, rotate the analogue stick/d-pad.
• Crusher - Press the Attack button as the stalagmite is about to disappear.
• Bowser Crush - Tap the Attack button repeatedly to increase the damage dealt.

Peach (Toadstool)

• Therapy - Press the Action button as the sparkles begin to fade to increase the health-restored
• Group Hug - Same as Therapy, press the Action button as the sparkles begin to fade to increase the health-restored to the party.
• Sleepy Time - Rotate the analogue stick/d-pad to spread the effect to all enemies.
• Come Back - Press the Action button just as the star hits your ally to fully restore their health.
• Mute - Rotate the analogue stick/d=pad pad to spread the status effect to all enemies.
• Psych Bomb - Press the Action button as the bombs land on the enemies' heads. You can do this repeatedly.

For more help on getting through Super Mario RPG, check out our full Super Mario RPG guide for everything you need.